


Miscaculation

by Goodluckdetective (scorpiontales)



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, F/M, Trespasser DLC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-30
Updated: 2015-12-30
Packaged: 2018-05-10 12:35:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5585590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scorpiontales/pseuds/Goodluckdetective
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Solas thought the Inquisition was his greatest enemy. </p><p>He made a miscalculation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Miscaculation

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the idea that the love interest of whoever died in the Fade would have a bone to pick with Solas.

Solas met the Hero of Ferelden only once.

He remembered the incident well, if only for the lack of fanfare. While most important guests were greeted with decorations, music and an excited crowd, there was no such excitement for the hero of Ferelden, likely because the woman had sent no notice that she was arriving until she was on their doorstep. She came in the middle of the night, no entourage except for an aging Mabari at her heels. If he hadn’t been awake at the hour, Solas would have missed her arrival entirely.

The guard racing through his study was the only signal he got of their new found company. When Leliana came down the stairs to charge through his study as well, it was enough of a ruckus for him to follow into the main hall. The area was almost empty at the hour except for a couple of guards, a few scouts, and now Leliana, who was embracing a stranger in the main hall with a grip hard enough to leave marks.

Solas couldn’t see her, not under the cloak she was wearing. It was clear she was a Warden, the crest on her armor was clear enough, but besides that, there was little that the shadows didn’t disguise from him. The mild slump to her shoulders suggested weariness, and the way her fingers dug into Leliana’s shoulders suggested a emotional upheaval that he couldn’t place. He watched as the stranger pulled away from the hug, taking a step back as if to breathe, and when the Inquisitor walked into the main hall, he could almost feel the swell of tension flood the room.

It took him a second to place why until the Inquisitor, more solemn than Solas had seen them in ages, handed the stranger a ring around a chain and a shield that looked more like a relic than an actual piece of defense.

“She knew the Warden who perished?” Solas asked one of the scouts next to him, pitching his voice low. The scout stared at him for a second, like he had said something incredibly foolish, before answering.

“Knew him? She was his wife. That’s the Hero of Ferelden.”

The Warden’s shaking hands suddenly made much more sense.

Solas felt something twist in his gut, almost like guilt. This was his fault. Because of his mistakes, a woman was without a husband. A good man was dead. There was another body to add to his ever increasing pile of sins.

Part of him knew that such an emotion was ridiculous. The man would have died either if he’d gotten his way. There was no point in lamenting over what could have been. He should be past such regret.

 _If you hadn’t made such an error_ , his mind still whispered, _they would have at least died together._

The rest of the meeting was brief. The Inquisitor handed over a few more items from the dead man’s room. Leliana and the Warden had another embrace as the spymaster filled her in on current events. A few stragglers around the castle came to peer at the woman they’d only heard of in legends. Within an hour, she was leaving once more.

Looking back on it, Solas couldn’t remember what possessed him to approach her. There was no reason for it, she clearly wanted no platitudes, and Solas had nothing of merit to say. But as she headed towards the door, he found himself stepping forward. Clearing his throat.

“I’m sorry for you loss, Commander.”

She paused, turning her head a fraction to look at him. Her eyes traveled his face, taking in every feature. Her gaze lingered on his eyes, almost inspecting them and for a moment, Solas thought she could see past the facade he was wearing, that she could sense the wolf in front of her. But then, she turned away. Tucked her husband’s things into her pack. Then, like he’d said nothing at all, she’d left, pulling up her hood and leaving the main hall behind her.

Solas didn’t think she would remember him. In fact, he didn’t think much of the Warden at all in the years that followed, too busy dealing with the veil and his ever growing network of spies. The Inquisition was at the forefront of his mind, the ever present enemy he had to outwit. If anything, the Warden was nothing but an afterthought.

Looking at the wreckage before him, Solas was starting to realize he miscalculated.

In front of him was one of his outposts, or what used to be one of his outposts. The maps that once littered the walls were torn, the tables that once held supplies were broken in half. His agents, a dozen capable men and women were slaughtered, their corpses littering the ground. Blood soaked the dirt.

None of that truly caught his attention. That honor was bestowed on the blood soaked wolf pelt lying in the middle of the room.

He walked over to it. Whoever attacked his camp, one person given the footsteps, had to bring this in themselves; he kept no such trinkets in his bases. The blood was clearly that of his agents, but given the rough cut to the pelt, he doubted the skin was bought off a trader. He reached down for the dagger that was pinned into the center of the wolf and pulled it out, taking in the insignia. A Grey Warden crest glimmered in the torchlight. And attached to it, written in blood, a single note.

_“His name was Alistair.”_

Solas ran his finger across the letters and tried to ignore the feeling of blood soaking into his boots.

Meanwhile, miles away, the Hero of Ferelden began to sharpen another dagger.


End file.
